14 Ways I Get More Donations for My Nonprofit (I’ll Show You How)

A while ago, I built a nonprofit website that looked great and quickly started getting good traffic. But even with lots of visitors, donations weren’t coming in like I hoped.

After some research, I realized the problem: I had designed the site thinking like a developer, not a donor. Once I understood this, I knew I had to act quickly.

So I added a bright “Give Hope” button at the top, simplified the donation form so it was easy to fill out, and put our success stories right on the homepage.

Almost immediately, donations began to rise as people could finally connect with our cause and give without confusion.

Since then, I’ve helped many nonprofits increase their online donations with simple changes that actually work.

In this guide, I’m sharing 14 practical ways to get more donations, including the exact steps that turned my struggling donation page into a fundraising success. 🚀

💡Quick Glance: The Top 10 Donation Strategies for Nonprofits

Here’s a summary table of the top 10 foundational strategies I use to increase donations, along with why they work:

🎯 Strategy	✅ Why It Works
Simplify Donation Forms	Fewer fields mean more people complete donations
Suggested Donation Amounts	Guide donors toward higher, predictable gifts
Use Thank-You Emails	Build trust and encourages repeat giving
Add Recurring Donations	Turn one-time donors into long-term supporters
Show a Progress Bar	Create urgency and community motivation
Story-Driven Campaign Pages	Emotional stories inspire action
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising	Let supporters fundraise on your behalf
Corporate Matching Gifts	Double the impact without asking donors for more
Social Sharing Buttons	Increase reach through donors’ own networks
Segment Donor Emails	Personalized appeals get higher responses

👉 Fundraising Terms Made Simple

Before I dive into why traditional fundraising underperforms, let’s quickly go over a few terms you’ll see in this guide.

If you’re new to online fundraising, these will help you follow along more easily. If you already know them, feel free to skip ahead.

• Conversion Rate: The percentage of people who complete a desired action, such as filling out your donation form. If 100 people visit the form and 10 donate, your conversion rate is 10%.
• Donor Lifetime Value (LTV): The total amount of money a donor gives over the entire time they stay connected with your nonprofit. For example, a $20 monthly donor gives $240 in one year, which is often more than a one-time $100 gift.
• Donor Retention: The percentage of donors who continue giving after their first gift. High retention means donors keep supporting you year after year, making your fundraising more stable.

Why Your Nonprofit Needs New Ways to Get More Donations

Traditional fundraising methods like galas, phone banks, and paper checks aren’t bad, but they don’t work as well as they used to.

They slow things down, limit your reach, and make it harder to keep donors coming back. Here are some of the biggest reasons why they fall short today:

1. Limited Reach and High Effort

Events and phone banks only reach a small group of people. Online fundraising, on the other hand, is open 24/7 and can reach supporters anywhere in the world.

According to research, nonprofits raise an average of $78 for every 1,000 fundraising emails sent. That may sound small, but the big advantage is scale—you can reach far more people online than at a single event.

2. More Friction, Fewer Donations

Every extra step means fewer donations. Writing and mailing a paper check takes effort, and people often give up. On the other hand, online giving makes it easy: a few clicks, and the gift is done.

This is why conversion rates are usually much higher online.

3. One-Time Gifts vs. Recurring Support

Offline methods often lead to one-time donations. Online, you can encourage monthly giving with simple checkboxes or subscription options.

A $20 monthly donor gives $240 a year—much more than a one-time $100 gift. That’s the power of donor lifetime value.

4. Psychology That Boosts Giving

Traditional methods don’t give you much room to experiment. Online, you can use:

• Social proof → showing how many people already donated.
• Urgency → adding deadlines like “only 2 days left to meet our goal.”
• Anchoring → suggesting preset amounts like $25, $50, $100.

These simple psychological nudges make a big difference.

5. Keeping Donors Coming Back

Events and phone calls are one-and-done. Online fundraising makes donor retention easier with automated thank-you emails, updates about impact, and reminders to give again.

The truth is that traditional fundraising just can’t keep up with how people give today. Donors expect convenience, transparency, and the option to give anytime, anywhere.

Now, let’s take a look at 14 online donation strategies to help you raise money and build stronger relationships with your supporters.

Here is a quick overview if you want to jump down to a specific tip:

• Essential Donation Strategies Every Nonprofit Should Use
  • Keep Donation Forms Simple and Distraction-Free
  • Offer Suggested Donation Amounts
  • Add Recurring Donations
  • Create Campaign Pages That Tell a Story
  • Display a Fundraising Goal Progress Bar
  • Accept Multiple Payment Options
  • Send Automatic Thank-You Emails
• Marketing and Engagement Strategies for Nonprofits
  • Share Campaign Updates With Donors
  • Enable Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
  • Run Urgent or Time-Sensitive Campaigns
  • Match Donations With Corporate Sponsors
  • Use Social Sharing Buttons
  • Collect Offline Donations Too
  • Segment Donor Emails for Better Appeals
• How to Put These Donation Tips Into Action in 30 Days
• Frequently Asked Questions About Nonprofit Donation Strategies

Essential Donation Strategies Every Nonprofit Should Use

I’ve tested a lot of different approaches in my own nonprofit projects, and these 7 strategies made the biggest difference. They’re not complicated or expensive, but they can completely change how people respond to your donation requests.

Think of them as the foundation every nonprofit should have in place before trying anything more advanced.

1. Keep Donation Forms Simple and Distraction-Free

Nobody likes filling out a long form. If your donation page asks for too much information, people will get frustrated and leave before completing it.

In fact, long forms are one of the main reasons that donors give up halfway.

The fix is simple: only ask for what you really need. I usually recommend keeping it to name, email, donation amount, and payment information.

Skip the extra fields like fax numbers or long mailing addresses if you don’t really need them. And don’t clutter the page with popups or menus that pull people away.

The Balkhi Foundation’s donation page is a great example of this. Their form asks for the donation amount, lets you choose whether it’s one-time or monthly, and then collects just the essentials—name, email, and address.

It’s quick, straightforward, and easy to finish. That’s exactly the kind of form that keeps donors moving all the way to the ‘Donate’ button.

2. Offer Suggested Donation Amounts

One of the easiest ways to boost donations is by giving people suggested amounts.

This works because of anchoring psychology: when someone sees set numbers like $25, $50, or $100, it helps them quickly decide how much to give, rather than overthinking it.

Most successful nonprofits already use this tactic because it guides donors without pressuring them. Here’s what it might look like:

Cause	Suggested Levels
Disaster Relief	$25, $50, $100, $250
Education Fund	$10, $25, $75, $150
Animal Shelter	$15, $30, $60, $120

You can still leave an ‘Other’ box for people who want to enter their own number. But these presets often lead to higher and faster donations because you’ve removed the guesswork.

The best way I’ve found to set this up on a nonprofit site is with Charitable. It’s the best WordPress donation plugin that I use myself.

Charitable comes with premade fundraising templates, and almost all of them already include suggested donation amounts.

Here’s how it works: once your nonprofit site is set up with WordPress and Charitable, just open a template that fits your cause in Charitable’s form builder.

Then, add the built-in ‘Donation Amount’ field, and open its settings in the left column.

You can now type in the tiers you want (like $25, $50, $100) and even pick which option should be the default.

Once you are done, just click the ‘Save’ button to store your settings.

3. Add Recurring Donations

If you could only pick one strategy from this list, this is the one I recommend.

Recurring donations are a total game-changer for nonprofits. Instead of relying on one-time gifts, monthly contributions give your organization a predictable, stable income that makes planning and growing programs much easier.

Over time, recurring donors give 3–5 times as much as one-time donors, making them invaluable for long-term success.

With Charitable, setting up recurring donations is simple.

First, you’ll need the ‘Recurring Donations’ addon. Once that’s activated, open your donation form in the editor interface and switch to the ‘Donation Options’ tab.

Here, you have to toggle the ‘Recurring Donation Amounts’ switch to active.

After that, scroll down the page. You’ll see options to customize the default period and select how often donors should be billed.

Charitable lets you choose from weekly, monthly, quarterly, semiannual, or yearly periods.

What’s best depends on your cause, but for most nonprofits, setting donation periods of at least 1 month works well.

If you need step-by-step instructions, then check out this article on how to create a recurring donation form in WordPress.

4. Create Campaign Pages That Tell a Story

Think about the last time you gave to a cause. Chances are, it wasn’t the numbers that moved you—it was the story.

That’s exactly what your campaign page needs to spark action.

A strong story usually follows a formula: Problem → Impact → Solution → Call-to-Action.

1. Problem: Show the challenge your cause is tackling. Keep it short and relatable.
2. Impact: Share the consequences of the problem or how past support has already made a difference.
3. Solution: Explain what your nonprofit is doing right now and how donations directly help.
4. Call-to-Action: End with a strong, clear Donate Now button.

For example, the UNFPA’s maternal health campaign page shows how powerful storytelling can be. The page begins with the problem: mothers in crisis zones lacking safe deliveries.

It then highlights the impact of past support, explains the solution (emergency maternal health kits and trained midwives), and shows a clear ‘Donate Now’ button on the page.

The mix of real photos and stories makes the appeal feel urgent and personal.

You can do the same on your site using SeedProd, which is the best WordPress landing page builder.

I used it to build a campaign page for my own nonprofit, and it was surprisingly easy thanks to its pre-made templates and drag-and-drop editor.

To get started with the process, follow our tutorial on how to create a landing page in WordPress.

5. Display a Fundraising Goal Progress Bar

Donors don’t just want to give money — they want to see the difference their gift is making. That’s where a progress bar / fundraising thermometer comes in.

It turns your campaign into a shared mission, showing exactly how close you are to reaching your goal. When people see that their $25 could be the push that takes you from 85% to 90%, they’re much more likely to donate.

Charitable makes it super easy to add a progress bar.

All you have to do is open the drag-and-drop editor and add the ‘Progress Bar’ field to your donation form. Then click on it to open the field settings in the left column, where you can set your fundraising goal.

The bar will automatically update to show how much has been donated and how close you are to reaching it.

For the best results, I recommend placing the progress bar where it’s impossible to miss, such as above the form or directly under the donate button.

And don’t forget to highlight it once your campaign hits about 70–90% of the target. You can do this by:

• Updating your campaign description to say something like “We’re almost there — just $500 to go!”
• Sharing screenshots of the progress bar in your emails or social media posts.
• Adding a short banner message above the form, like “Help us cross the finish line today!”

This small push can make a huge difference because donors feel like their gift is the one that will help you reach the goal.

6. Accept Multiple Payment Options

One of the fastest ways to lose a donation is by not offering someone’s preferred way to pay.

Imagine a donor is ready to give, but you only accept checks or one card type. Chances are, they’ll abandon the form and never come back.

That’s why it’s important to give people choices. I recommend enabling both PayPal and Stripe for starters so that donors can pay using credit cards, debit cards, or their PayPal accounts.

👉 For detailed instructions, see how to add a PayPal donate button in WordPress and how to set up Stripe donations.

7. Send Automatic Thank-You Emails

Nothing builds donor loyalty like a quick, personal thank-you. When someone donates and immediately receives a message showing their gift mattered, they feel appreciated and are much more likely to give again.

Charitable allows you to turn every donation receipt into a personalized “Thank You” email.

To do this, just visit the Charitable » Settings » Emails page and find the ‘Donor: Donation Receipt’ option. Go ahead and click the ‘Enable Email’ button.

Once you do that, the page will reload. Now, you have to click the ‘Email Settings’ button.

This opens a page where you can add a subject line and email headline, attach a PDF receipt, and write your email body.

You can also use dynamic tags such as {first_name}, {donation_amount}, or {donation_summary} to personalize the thank-you message for each donor.

Upon making your changes, simply click the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.

Next, go back to the Emails page and toggle the ‘Enable Email Customization’ switch.

Here, you can upload your logo, add footer content, and adjust background colors to match your nonprofit’s branding.

Donors love instant acknowledgment, and it turns one-time supporters into long-term contributors with minimal effort.

Marketing and Engagement Strategies for Nonprofits

Raising money is just one part of running a successful nonprofit. To really grow your impact, you need to get the word out, engage your supporters, and keep people excited about your mission.

In this section, I’m sharing 7 practical marketing and engagement strategies that I recommend for nonprofits.

These tips help you connect with more people, build stronger relationships, and encourage supporters to give again and again.

8. Share Campaign Updates With Donors

Donors love to see how their gifts are making a difference. Sharing regular campaign updates helps build trust, keeps supporters excited, and encourages them to give again.

By showing your progress, you make donors feel like they’re part of something bigger, and that’s motivating.

You can keep your donors in the loop using social media, email, and blog posts. Share photos or short videos on your social channels that showcase recent campaign activity, such as a community project in action.

You can also send email newsletters to highlight milestones, donor shout-outs, or short stories about how contributions are being used.

Alternatively, a blog is perfect for a more detailed story with numbers, photos, and testimonials that show how donations are making a real impact.

Here’s a clear schedule I recommend for sharing campaign updates with donors:

• Social media: Post updates 1–2 times per week with photos or short videos. Highlight progress, behind-the-scenes moments, or stories of people your nonprofit is helping.
• Email newsletter: Send updates 2–4 times per month. Include a short summary of recent achievements, donor shout-outs, and a link to your donation page or campaign.
• Blog posts: Publish 1–2 in-depth stories per quarter. Include numbers, photos, and testimonials to show long-term impact.
• Optional: Tag donors or supporters in posts and emails where appropriate. This builds community and makes people feel appreciated.

When people see their donations at work, they’re more likely to stay involved and even spread the word about your cause.

9. Enable Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Peer-to-peer fundraising is a great way to let your supporters help you raise money. Your volunteers, donors, or fans can create their own mini-campaigns and share them with friends and family.

This not only brings in new donors but also gets your existing supporters more involved.

I usually recommend this for nonprofits with strong communities, like schools, animal shelters, or local health organizations.

With the Charitable Ambassadors addon, it’s super easy to get started. You can offer premade campaign starter templates, so volunteers don’t have to design anything from scratch.

Once someone signs up as an ambassador, they can personalize their page, share it, and start fundraising right away.

This setup has personally helped me grow, reach, and attract new supporters who might never have donated otherwise. It’s also motivating for volunteers because they can see exactly how their efforts make a difference.

For more details, you may want to check out our article on how to create peer-to-peer fundraising in WordPress.

10. Run Urgent or Time-Sensitive Campaigns

Creating a sense of urgency can get people to act faster. When donors see that a campaign is ending soon or that their support is needed immediately, they’re more likely to give.

This works really well for nonprofits running relief drives, holiday campaigns, or limited-time matching donations.

With Charitable, you can set an end date for your campaign using its visual builder. To set it up, go to your campaign page and click the ‘Edit With Builder’ link under your donation form.

Once the drag and drop builder opens up, switch to the ‘Settings’ tab from the left column.

Here, you can choose the exact date when the campaign should end using the ‘Ending Date’ field.

Your donation form will now show that the campaign is time-sensitive. This simple addition helps motivate donors to give sooner rather than later.

11. Match Donations With Corporate Sponsors

Corporate matching gifts is a simple way to make every donation go further. Many companies will match donations made by their employees or customers, effectively doubling the impact.

This works especially well for nonprofits with strong community support or local networks.

For example, if a donor gives $50 and their employer matches, your nonprofit instantly receives $100.

I’ve seen this in action with organizations like the American Red Cross, which often partners with big companies during disaster relief campaigns.

When a business pledges to match donations, it encourages more people to give right away because they know their contribution will be doubled.

To do the same for your nonprofit site, I recommend reaching out to local businesses or companies that align with your mission. Explain how matching works and its benefits: it increases donor engagement and provides the company with good visibility in the community.

Once you secure a match, keep track of all donations carefully, so both the donor and company can be appropriately recognized.

This will help build stronger long-term partnerships with businesses and keep donors excited to give, knowing their impact is being maximized.

12. Use Social Sharing Buttons

A big part of fundraising success comes from word of mouth. When donors share your campaign on Facebook, Twitter, or WhatsApp, it can bring in extra donations that you might never reach on your own.

In fact, many nonprofits see a good chunk of donations coming from social referrals.

Charitable makes this simple with its built-in social sharing form field. You can add this field to your donation forms so that donors can see quick-share buttons right on the form.

This makes it easy for them to post the campaign link with just one click.

For best results, you should place the sharing field on your thank-you page or at the end of the donation form. That’s when donors feel most motivated to spread the word and invite others to join the cause.

I personally use this technique in all my nonprofit projects, and it always helps bring in extra donations from friends and family of existing supporters.

13. Collect Offline Donations Too

Not every supporter gives online. Some prefer to hand over cash at an event, mail a check, or send a direct bank transfer.

If you don’t record these gifts, then your totals will look smaller than they really are, and donors may feel like their contributions don’t count.

Logging offline donations keeps your fundraising transparent and builds trust with your supporters. Charitable lets you add these gifts manually.

From your WordPress dashboard, head to the Charitable » Donations menu and click the ‘Add A Manual Donation’ button.

This will take you to a new screen where you can either select an existing donor or create a new one. Then enter the donation amount and assign it to the right campaign.

To finish, set the donation status to ‘Paid’ and click the ‘Save’ button.

The offline gift will then appear alongside your online donations, helping your progress bar and reports stay accurate.

14. Segment Donor Emails for Better Appeals

Sending the same email to every donor rarely works. People give for different reasons, at different levels, and at different times. That’s why segmentation—dividing your email list into smaller groups—is such a powerful strategy.

It lets you craft messages that feel more personal and relevant, which usually leads to higher response rates.

For example, you might send a special “welcome” series to first-time donors, while recurring donors could receive behind-the-scenes updates highlighting the long-term impact of their gifts.

Supporters who give small amounts might be encouraged to set up a monthly donation, while those who have given larger amounts could be invited to join a leadership circle.

And don’t forget lapsed donors. You can send them a “we miss you” message with a clear, simple way to re-engage.

To make segmentation easier, you’ll want to use a reliable email marketing tool. I recommend Constant Contact, which is one of the best email marketing services out there.

It makes it simple to create custom segments, schedule campaigns, and track which messages are performing best.

For details, see this guide on how to create an email newsletter.

How to Put These Donation Tips Into Action in 30 Days

When I first started running fundraising campaigns, I often felt overwhelmed by all the moving pieces. What helped me most was breaking things into small, weekly steps I could actually finish.

That’s exactly how I designed this 30-day action plan. It’s practical, doable, and will help you see real results without burning out.

Week 1: Quick Wins ⭐

• Simplify your donation form (only ask for name, email, donation amount, payment information).
• Add suggested donation amounts.
• Turn on automatic thank-you emails.

Week 2: Recurring & Progress 🚀

• Enable recurring donations.
• Customize billing periods (monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc.).
• Add a fundraising goal + progress bar to your donation form.

Week 3: Marketing Push 📈

• Create a campaign page with storytelling (Problem → Impact → Solution → Call-to-Action).
• Share your first campaign update on social + send an email newsletter.
• Run a limited-time or urgent campaign with a clear deadline.

Week 4: Scaling Up 🏆

• Enable peer-to-peer fundraising.
• Pitch at least one local business for a corporate match.
• Segment donor emails (first-time vs. recurring, large vs. small gifts).

Even if you don’t get through all 4 weeks, just tackling the first half of this plan will already make your donation system stronger and more effective.

The key is to start small, stay consistent, and keep building on your momentum.

Frequently Asked Questions About Nonprofit Donation Strategies

I’ve covered a lot of strategies in this guide, but you might still have a few practical questions about getting started.

Here are answers to the most common questions I hear from nonprofits when setting up donation campaigns.

Can I accept donations without a website?

Yes. You can use platforms like GoFundMe, PayPal donation links, or Facebook Fundraisers. But having your own WordPress site with a donation plugin like Charitable gives you more control, branding, and donor trust.

How do I set up recurring donations in WordPress?

You can use a tool like Charitable’s Recurring Donations addon. Once installed, you can set donation frequency (monthly, quarterly, yearly) directly on your campaign form. For details, see our guide on how to accept recurring donations.

Do I need PayPal to start accepting donations?

No. While PayPal is a popular choice, popular fundraising plugins like Charitable also support Stripe, Authorize.Net, Braintree, and other payment gateways. You can choose the one that works best for your donors.

What’s the best donation strategy to start with?

Start simple: enable suggested donation amounts and thank-you emails. These two changes boost average donation size and improve donor retention right away.

From there, you can layer on more advanced strategies like recurring donations or peer-to-peer fundraising.

I hope this article helped you learn some great ways to get more donations for your nonprofit website. You may also want to see our tutorial on creating a donor portal in WordPress and our expert picks for the best WordPress themes for nonprofit organizations.

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The post 14 Ways I Get More Donations for My Nonprofit (I’ll Show You How) first appeared on WPBeginner.